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Saturday, March 10, 2012

For All of Us Wonderful, Beautiful, Liberal "Sluts."

18 comments:

It used to be said that you were a feminist if you displayed any traits that would distinguish you from a doormat. Now apparently you're a slut, snob, and elitist if you display any traits that would distinguish you from a medieval peasant.

Leave it to Gloria Allred to make Rush Limbaugh into a hero of civil liberties and the First Amendment by demanding that he get censored. Like happened to Larry Flynt. I am doubting you support that effort, Shaw, as I've not seen you yet call for censorship on this.

Reading of Allred's effort is the first time Rush has come out like any sort of victim in this whole affair.

Right-wingers respond to every outrage by some troglodyte conservative spokesperson by trying to change the subject -- "Yes, but a liberal once said something bad too, so let's talk about that instead." It's pure evasion.

In any case, it's a false equivalence. The left hascalled out men like Maher for misogynistic comments about conservative women, and in any case neither he nor any other media figure has the kind of iconic status on the left that Limbaugh has on the right. Stop trying to make out that the two sides are comparable on this question. They're not.

Finally, advertiser boycotts are not censorship. No one is proposing that Limbaugh be banned from saying anything. Even if he lost his radio show entirely, he'd still have the same freedom of expression that you and I and 300 million other Americans have. You're entitled to refuse to patronize businesses which do things you disapprove of, including sponsoring media personalities you don't like. That's part of the free market.

Hey, it's a fun, lighthearted video. Disarming the bigots by reclaiming the hate words they use to attack people has been an established way for the targets of such thuggery to fight back, ever since gay people started reclaiming the word "queer". There's definitely grounds for anger against Limbaugh and all such prigs, but I'm glad to see cheer and humor there as well.

Also, I don't think anyone believes that Limbaugh is oozing male charm and charisma alla George Clooney, so I've never believed his "beards" volunarily, without financial considerations, married him. He's a replusive human being.

DB,

?????

TRUTH 101,

Slut, of course, has more than one meaning. I have British friends who always used the word for meaning "lazy," as in "I'm feeling slutty today, not going to do any housework."

RN-USA,

Calling women vile names is never acceptable by anyone.

The only difference between Maher and Limbaugh is that Limbaugh is the voice and heart of the GOP. He is invited to speak at venues like CPAC and has had the admiration of presidents and vice presidents who say they admire and never miss his program. GOP lawmakers tremble before Limbaugh, and dare not say anything against him.

Maher, OTOH, is a comedian with absolutely NO political clout. I've never heard a Liberal pol mention him or say he's admired. Never. And I've never seen Maher invited to speak at Democratic Party venues.

You have to PAY to hear his slander. He isn't on the US airwaves or on the VoA overseas being broadcast to our military.

Big, big difference. And I'm tired of hearing that Maher and Limbaugh have the same influence on the American people. Most people have never heard of Maher.

dmarks,

I do not wish to have Limbaugh taken off the air.

I've said before that I want him to remain as a prominent voice of what the GOP stands for: anti-women, anti-black, anti-immigrant, anti-gay, and anti-science.

The GOP has already lost the support of Independent women by allowing Limbaugh's vile diatribes, let the gasbag continue to drive voters away from the GOP.

"Big, big difference. And I'm tired of hearing that Maher and Limbaugh have the same influence on the American people. Most people have never heard of Maher."

Shaw...

I'm not buying this one at all. Didn't buy it from Maher's filthy misogamist mouth when I heard it from him and I ain't buying it from you either.

Typical equivocation from those who admire the left, irrespective of what they say or do. The fact they are the left is apparently all that matters for some. Every bit as hypocritical as the right often is.

RN, I've never heard a shyte-storm about the years of bigotry and slander that has been rife on Libaugh's programs for years.

Talk about double standard. Now, because Limbaugh, as all bullies and loud-mouths do, crossed a line, and now that the result has been a firestorm of anger comes the accusations that Democrats do it too!

As Infidel753 pointed out and linked to, Democrats have called people like Maher out for their abusive invective.

The GOP, to my knowledge, never dared to do so when Limbaugh compared Chelsea Clinton, then 12-years old, a dog on his teevee program, or any other time Limbaugh has lied and used vulgarities to describe the current president.

Just this past week Limbaugh referred to Mr. Obama as the "boy president."

Do you or anyone else here not understand how loaded the word "boy" is when used to describe an African-American?

Limbaugh is a disgusting low-life bigot, who has been given a pass for years by his admirers in the GOP.

To equate what Maher did with the 20+ year career of a racist like Limbaugh is just, IMHO, absurd.

WaPo: When the Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey asked last summer which party should control Congress, a slim 46-42 percent plurality of women said it should be the Democrats.

But in a survey released Monday, compiling polling since the beginning of the year, that figure had widened considerably to a 15-point advantage for the Democrats, according to polling by the team of Democratic pollster Peter Hart and Republican Bill McInturff. Fifty-one percent favored Democratic control; only 36 percent wanted to see the Republicans in charge."

Defamation has never been a protected form of speech, and even public figures can, under a much higher standard of proof than the rest of us, be defamed. Ms. Fluke was not a public figure when she testified to Congress, and she was testifying as representative for a student advocacy group, not about her own health or sex life or even whether the latter existed (for law students, they often don’t).

Georgetown students are required to buy health insurance out of their own pockets, yet the women students could not be covered for such issues as endometriosis, ovarian cysts, excessive menstruation, or post-rape treatments if the treatment involved anything also used as normal contraception. There was nothing in her testimony which even justified the imputation of “unchastity”, let alone those of profligacy and prostitution.

Limbaugh spoke, and spoke repeatedly, with actual malice. His “apology” was a further insult. His words have incited public threats of obscene violence against his victim, and it could well be that his actual intent was to make certain no women ever, in the future, dare stand up publicly in the future for themselves or each other at all.

As for Bill Mahr, I never followed him, but he could well belong to that cohort of “intellectuals” who once glorified open misogyny as cool, avant-garde, and “authentic”, as opposed to the reputed “henpeckery” of “bourgeois” Middle America.

Well, Bill, that was then- like forty or fifty years ago, y’know? Get over it!

"His words have incited public threats of obscene violence against his victim,"

Another example of going way overboard. I blame Rush for what he did, and quite strongly. I don't blame him for what he didn't. I listened to his outrageous words when they came out live. As outrageous as they were, they did not include any incitation for threats. What he said was bad enough with fabricating imaginary stuff to add to it.

I agree about defamation. Maybe a nice fat slander suit by Ms. Fluke that separates gasbag from some of his millions would make him think twice the next time he's tempted to defame someone on his show.

dmarks, you misunderstand. reynardifne doesn't mean El Rushbo actually spoke the words that incited violence, but the word he did speak against Ms. Fluke incited people to make threats against her--this is a fact. Without Limbaugh's 3-day attack, people wouldn't have known who Ms. Fluke was. You missed the point entirely.

Also, dmarks, I believe Infidel753 meant no one here is suggesting that Limbaugh be taken off the air.

"the word he did speak against Ms. Fluke incited people to make threats against her" is entirely untrue. Insulting someone is not inciting to violence. I defend Maher from this sort of false accusation as well. And both Limbaugh and Maher should be defended against such ridiculous frivolous lawsuits.